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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26391055">Mrs. Spooky Mulder</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLyssa/pseuds/CaptainLyssa'>CaptainLyssa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The X-Files</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempt at Humor, F/M, Platonic Relationships, Secret Relationship, Team Dynamics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:48:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,821</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26391055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLyssa/pseuds/CaptainLyssa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally, the first few chapters of this work were written as a bit of a spoof. A look at the dynamic between Mulder and Scully at their best. In the middle, it took a turn towards the improbable, almost impossible. Still, think of it as tongue in cheek, a bit of a laugh at our famous duo while interacting with other FBI agents at a team building seminar. That scenario will always bring out the worst in Mulder and fun must, therefore ensue with many Scully eye rolls.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fox Mulder/Dana Scully</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Tell me why we’re doing this again, Scully,” Mulder asked placing another seed in his mouth.</p>
<p>“Because A.D. Skinner ordered us too,” Scully answered the whining child at her side.</p>
<p>“Nobody wants Spooky Mulder at a team building seminar,” he stated with rancour.</p>
<p>“Or Mrs Spooky,” Scully muttered under her breath. Then the importance of that statement hit her head on. Taking in a sharp gasp, Scully’s mind went blank for a moment.</p>
<p>“Hey, Scully, you alright,” Mulder asked concerned, “you almost drove us off the road.”</p>
<p>“Fine, Mulder,” the words came quickly to her lips when obviously the fact couldn’t be further from the truth. The car had stopped on the shoulder, mere inches from a ditch. “No, Mulder, I am not fine.”</p>
<p>“Want me to drive,” he questioned, looking at his partner.</p>
<p>“You think,” she answered sarcastically, releasing her seatbelt and opening the driver’s side door.</p>
<p>Back on the road, sitting in the passenger’s seat gave Scully time to consider the revelation<em>. I’m Mrs Spooky Mulder. How often have I overheard someone say it? Really, everyone at the bureau thinks so. They don’t bother to hide the fact anymore. Even my family have this expectation. Why shouldn’t they, Mulder joins us for all the family holidays. We do everything together but….don’t go there Dana.</em></p>
<p>Pulling up to the old-fashioned, but moderately upscale, hotel in Chesapeake, Mulder turned off the car before facing his partner of several years. One arm over the back of her seat, the other resting on the dash board, he surrounded her. Personal space between them had never existed.</p>
<p>“Scully,” he made the word a question.</p>
<p>Strange how they could do this, had always been able to communicate with a single word or look. <em>No wonder they think I’m Mrs Spooky Mulder, it’s the way we act.</em></p>
<p>“I’m fine, Mulder,” Scully rolled her eyes. “You get us booked in and I’ll find the registration desk. We’ll meet at the welcome brunch in the dining room.”</p>
<p>“Hey, Scully,” Mulder stopped unloading both overnight bags and gave her a wink, “we’ll be home tomorrow night.”</p>
<p><em>Four sessions, three meals and one night, that’s all I have to get though with my Colleagues</em>, Scully thought. <em>Since when did spending time with my Colleagues become a chore? When did I become so insulated in my working environment and isolated from society in general? The answer, when people started calling me Mrs Spooky.</em></p>
<p>“Name,” the board junior agent looked up from her registration paperwork. Noticing the short, red head before her, Scully saw the gathering interest in her eyes.</p>
<p><em>Oh, brother</em>, Scully forced a neutral expression to her face. “Scully, Dana and Mulder, Fox,” she supplied, ignoring the sideways glances from other agents milling in the general vicinity. Picking up her name tag, she fastened the label to her lapel.</p>
<p>“Sign in here,” the look in the young woman’s eyes informed Scully that her reputation preceded her. “Where’s your partner,” Jane Heatherington, or so her badge stated, asked. “He needs to sign in here,” she pointed a well-manicured nail beside Mulder’s name.</p>
<p>“I’ll….” The raised hair on the back of her neck warned her of Mulder’s approach. The look in Jane’s eye confirmed it. Once again stepping into her personal space, Scully heard the whispers start.</p>
<p>“Hey, Scully, there’s been….” he whispered, touching her arm to obtain her attention.</p>
<p>“Sign here, Mulder,” Scully pointed impatiently, collecting his identification tag from the table and pinning it neatly to his jacket pocket.</p>
<p>Placing his hand at the base of her spine, Mulder moved them to a quiet corner. The look in his eyes communicated his disquiet. “Notice anything strange about the agents attending this little charade,” he enquired, leaning down to whisper the words into Scully’s ear.</p>
<p>“Strange,” Scully answered, “Mulder are you attempting to uncover an X-File. We’re here because you need to learn to get along with our colleagues, not investigate them.”</p>
<p>“Look around you, Scully,” he smiled roguishly. “What does your ever-enquiring mind tell you?”</p>
<p>Waiting and watching for Scully to make the obvious link, she looked up at him in confusion, “we appear to be the only mixed gender partnership I can see.”</p>
<p>“Bingo,” he applauded, mischief shining in his expression.</p>
<p>“Why is that important,” Scully asked, failing to see association.</p>
<p>“Because,” he teased, “Dr Scully, of no fixed gender, is sharing a room with her FBI partner tonight.”</p>
<p>“What,” Scully exclaimed, loud enough to be heard by the other agents nearby. Their interest now became open as they stared at the pair. “But that’s against bureau policy,” she almost whined.</p>
<p>“Honeymoon suite, Scully,” amused, Mulder dangled the plastic key just out of her reach. He knew they were the subject of intense scrutiny but he just couldn’t help himself. Mulder liked teasing Scully.</p>
<p><em>The bastard,</em> Scully considered murder, <em>he heard me in the car. Sometimes I forget just how good a psychologist my partner is, and how much he loves me.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Flabbergasted, Scully headed for the bathroom without informing her partner. Taking several paper towels from the dispenser, she ran cold water over them. Seeking the privacy of a cubical, Scully closed the door, pulled the lid down and sat in shocked horror at Mulder’s behaviour.</p><p>As if the universe attempted to teach her a lesson, the ladies room door opened. Scully could hear to voices. Both intonated with a heavy southern drawl, possibly from Southern Carolina.</p><p>“Did you hear about Mr and Mrs Spooky Mulder,” the first asked.</p><p>“I wouldn’t have believed it, if I hadn’t seen them together with my own eyes,” her companion replied, slightly shocked.</p><p>“I don’t think you could have separated them with a sheet of paper, they were that close,” the first added.</p><p>“Did you see her pin his badge on his jacket,” Scully could see the second woman rolling her eyes at her instinctive gesture, one she didn’t even realise she’d accomplished, “that’s the kind of thing I’d do for my five-year-old,”</p><p>“According to what I hear,” First returned, “he acts like a five-year-old most of the time. I don’t know how she puts up with him.”</p><p>“Did you hear them talking about sharing a room,” answered the second. “Mrs Spooky didn’t seem too happy about breaking protocol.”</p><p>“One of the guys from accounts in the Washington office told me they do it all the time,” returned the first.</p><p>“Really,” disbelief coloured the second voice, “and Spooky himself mentioned the honeymoon suite. You think they’re married and keeping it from the Bureau?”</p><p>“I have no doubt in my mind, after all the rumours I’ve heard this morning, but let’s watch them over the next two days and see what evidence we come up with.”</p><p>“Oh, I love it,” the second woman chortled. “Can we let Maria Fernandez and Joan Smith in, I know they both do good work.”</p><p>They’d finally finished in the bathroom. Scully heard the door open and close, and the voices fade away. <em>Great, just ruddy great, how the hell am I ever going to live this one down</em>, Scully’s furious mind supplied, <em>this situation just gets better and better. I’m going to kill Mulder before the days out if this continues.</em></p><p>Exiting the Ladies restroom, Scully determinedly marched over to her partner. He knew something had happened by the look in her baby blues. The fury aimed at him, brought a boyish grin to his face. He’d been aware of the murmuring since she’d stormed off and that he’d been the cause of it.</p><p>“A moment of you time please, Spooky,” Scully said in a level voice but with a tone which would have shamed anyone else.</p><p>“Sure, Mrs Spooky,” he replied easily, playing to the watching crowd. Placing his hand at the base of her spine, Mulder lead Scully toward the open dining room doors. “Here or in private,” he asked.</p><p>“You’re a dead man, Mulder,” she spat, sparks flying from her eyes as he pulled out a chair at the place set for them.</p><p>“Tell me that again tonight, Scully,” Mulder quipped easily, dropping into his seat, “when we’re alone together.</p><p><em>I’m going to kill him slowly</em>, Scully promised as Agent Maria Fernandez took the seat beside her. The knowing smile on the woman’s face informed Scully she’d been privy to the entire conversation.</p><p>Scully sat beside Mulder in uncomfortable silence throughout the brunch and introduction speech. Choosing to ignore the pointed looks and whispered conversation from their colleagues, Scully didn’t take her eyes off the man at the podium. Associate Professor John Jackson droned on about communication skills, interpersonal relationships and authentic behaviours making the workplace a healthier environment. Finally, he summed up, turned to his audience and asked with a smirk on his face, “Who would like to introduce themselves and their partner?”</p><p>“Mulder,” Scully leaned over to whisper in his ear, grabbing his arm in a futile attempt to stop what she suspected would come next, “what do you think you’re doing?”</p><p>“Relax, Scully,” he returned, leaning so close his lips nearly brushed Scully’s cheek, “I’ve got it covered.”</p><p>With that, Mulder rose to his feet, his hand still resting on Scully’s shoulder and started his introduction. “Hi, I’m sure most of you already know me. I’m Special Agent Spooky Mulder and this is my long-time partner Mrs Spooky. We work out of the D.C. office on the X-Files.”</p><p>Sitting down, he turned to Scully and said, “I told you I had it covered.”</p><p>Unfazed, the facilitator asked, “Who would like to go next?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The introductions finally over, Prof. Jackson stated, “We will meet back in the west conference room in an hour for our first session.”</p><p>Scully waited until the room emptied, arms tightly crossed over her chest, eyes directed to the front of the room. “Key,” she demanded, holding out her tiny hand towards Mulder.</p><p><em>I’m well and truly in the dog house</em>, Mulder knew that look and returned it with one of his hurt puppy glances. Noting his failure to gain Scully’s attention or any sympathy, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the plastic credit card sized key, dangling it just out of her reach. That got her attention. “I’ll show you to our room.”</p><p>“My room, Mulder,” Scully corrected, standing with a deep sigh, <em>how am I ever going to live this down once the rumour mill in D.C. gets hold of it?</em></p><p>“I need to go for a run,” he replied easily, changing the subject. Scully needed time to recover from his behaviour and he needed to give her the space to do it, alone.</p><p>“Wired, Mulder,” she asked sarcastically, quirking an eyebrow.</p><p>“More than you’ll ever know,” Mulder fired back ironically.</p><p>“Well I hope you and Giorgio have a nice run,” she snatched the key from his relaxed grasp.</p><p>“This is my very best suit, Scully,” Mulder whined, his hand finding its accustomed spot on her lower spine.</p><p>“Tough,” she stated.</p><p>“Come on, Scully, it wasn’t that bad,” Mulder tried to cajole her.</p><p>“You think,” Scully’s look said it all.</p><p>Taking Scully’s que, Mulder remained silent for the rest of the journey. Guiding her to their room, Mulder paused at the door.</p><p>“How are you going to spend the next hour?” Mulder attempted to delay their entry into the room, knowing the next volcano Scully eruption would follow shortly after.</p><p>“One bed, Mulder,” eyes rolling, Scully made her contempt known.</p><p>“There’s only ever one in the honeymoon suite, Scully,” he quipped, grabbing his overnight bag and heading for the bathroom. “We could share,” he suggested, moving towards the door and escape now he’d changed.</p><p>“In your dreams, Mulder,” Scully stated, sprawled on the king-sized bed, TV on some mind-numbing infomercial channel.</p><p>“How do you know it isn’t you in my dreams, Scully,” he retorted, earning him a yet another eye roll. Mulder escaped just in time. He heard her shoe hit the closed door.</p><p><em>Yep</em>, Mulder thought, making his way outside<em>, defiantly in the dog house</em>.</p><p>While on his run, Mulder glanced down at his left hand. Funny, he could imagine it adorned with a gold band, but only if Scully wore one too. <em>Maybe that’s what all this teasing is about, after all it’s not like we don’t do everything together, well maybe not quite everything. Whoa, don’t go there Mulder, </em>he berated, picking up the pace in the faint hope of outrunning his fantasies.</p><p>“Scully,” Mulder yelled, after knocking politely, then pounding and finally calling her name. His behaviour attracted attention from the rooms on either side and across the hall. “Scully, let me in.”</p><p>“Go away, Mulder,” she informed him from the other side of the door.</p><p>“Scully,” he whined, “I need a shower.”</p><p>“You should have thought about that before,” she replied.</p><p>“Come on Scully, I’ve got 10 minutes to get to the next session,” he pleaded, looking around at the gathering crowd. “Besides,” Mulder played his trump card, “you’re creating a scene.”</p><p>Opening the door, a slightly dishevelled Scully stood one hand on her hip. Mulder knew he filled the doorway, blocking the prying eyes in the hall. “Really Mulder, you do exaggerate.”</p><p>As he moved passed her, Mulder lent down to brush his lips close to her ear, “You’re bad,” he whispered, heading to the bathroom. Hearing the door slam on the impromptu audience, he wondered what he’d have to do to escape the dog house any time soon.</p><p>“Our first session’s on trust in partnership,” Prof. Jackson droned as Mulder slunk in, looking for Scully. Finding her bright red hair, he attempted to take the empty seat beside his partner. “I’m glad you could join us, Mr Mulder. As we have a married couple here today, I thought we’d explore your insights. If the both of you wouldn’t mind coming up here, please,” he pointed to the dais.</p><p>The crowd of agents took a collective breath, waiting for Scully and Mulder’s response. Resigned to their fate, Scully stood, allowed Mulder to place his hand at the base of her spine and walk her up to the front of the room.</p><p>“You’re a dead man,” she whispered, keeping her expression neutral.</p><p>“Thank you. Now could you tell us, Dr Scully, why you retain the use of your maiden name when working with your husband?” the facilitator asked earnestly.</p><p><em>Yep, I’m not going to get out of the dog house any time soon,</em> Mulder realised, looking down at Scully’s face set in stone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Don’t get mad, Dana,</em> Scully heard her mother’s voice in her head<em>, get even.</em></p><p>“My partner is an Oxford educated psychologist,” Scully told the rapt audience. “Why don’t you take this one, Mulder?” she offered, turning towards him with a slight smile.</p><p>Mulder knew the expression. Scully was right royally pissed but doing her best to keep calm and cool in the face of adversity. He had no doubt, she’d come off better from this confrontation. Caught like a deer in headlights, Mulder’s lightning fast mind considered his options. Finding a solution which would please Scully and earn him points, Mulder started.</p><p>“I’m sure everyone has heard of Maslow,” he stated easily, only Scully aware of the inner tension flowing between them. Taking his hand from its usual place, Mulder moved it to lightly drape over her shoulders. His speech had nothing to do with the audience before him, he intended it for Scully. “He proposed a hierarchy of needs. The higher we perceive the need, the more important it is to us. I value and respect my partner. More than that, I trust Special Agent Scully. If the woman I love needs to separate her personal and professional personas, I trust her to know what is right for her.” Shrugging his shoulders, he continued, “a name isn’t important, when you have loyalty, trust and understanding as the glue holding a relationship together.”</p><p><em>Dammit,</em> Scully’s expression softened ever so slightly. Only the people who knew her really well, like her mother and Mulder would recognise it. <em>He just told me he needs and trusts me in front of a room full of people. He mentioned love too, that <strong>he loves me</strong>. You really are a genius psychologist Mulder. As much as I want too, I can’t stay mad at you when you act this noble.</em></p><p>“Well that didn’t quite work out as I expected,” Scully looked up at Mulder, trapping his hazel eyes with her cerulean gaze. Mulder knew they’d have a lot to talk about once this session ended but he’d managed to cool volcano Scully, for the moment. Now, he just had to get them out of the situation before anything else could occur.</p><p>Their moment of silent, shared communication broke as Prof. Jackson spoke, “Thank you Agent Mulder, Dr Scully. I believe you demonstrated the partner trust paradigm perfectly.”</p><p>Before they had the chance to step of the dais, a voice called out from the audience, “Hey Mulder, how often does someone try hitting on Scully?”</p><p>A low-level snicker rumbled through the crowd. <em>Great</em>, Mulder could have murdered Agent Myers<em>, I just got myself out of the dog house and from Scully’s body language, I just got put right back in.</em></p><p>“Yeh,” another male voice called, “is that why you keep her locked up in the basement?”</p><p>“I believe,” Scully cut in coldly before Mulder could stop her, “Agent Carpenter, that you’re department is responsible for dismissing my repeated requests for alternative office space on one of the main floors. You have it in your power to allow Agent Mulder and myself out of the basement. As for you, Agent Myers, I’m trained in hand to hand combat. Anyone hitting on me gets the same treatment you’ve received over the last three years. Given your behaviour today, I’m surprised you continue to believe any woman could possibly be interested in you.”</p><p>The hand in the middle of Scully back tensed in warning, begging her not to say any more. Scully turned on Mulder and saw the concern in his eyes. Concern for her and what remained of her tattered reputation.</p><p><em>God, I love this man</em>, Scully came to the complete and devastating realisation, <em>even though he drives me to distraction</em>.</p><p>“Scully,” he whispered in warning before she could say anymore. Leading her back to their assigned seats, Mulder couldn’t wait for this session to finish. “Well talk later,” he suggested, his serious comment cutting through Scully’s anger.</p><p>“He makes me so mad,” Scully let out a pent-up breath. Rationality returned, she could see the point Mulder made. “I know my anger feed right into his psychosis and confirmed what everyone is whispering about, but I couldn’t let it go. The man is a Neanderthal.”</p><p>“I agree, Scully,” Mulder smiled back.</p><p>Always five steps ahead of her, Scully’s mind attempted to catch up with Mulder’s. When it did, she paled, unable to meet his openly encouraging gaze. <em>Oh God, it’s worse than I thought, Mulder knows. He knows I love him, he saw the moment I discovered the truth.</em></p><p><em>How could this situation get any worse</em>, Scully wondered. <em>What’s the most unpleasant thing that can possibly happen? Oh yeh, Mulder could ask "are you pregnant, Scully," in front of everyone here and I’d answer ‘no, Mulder but you could investigate an X-File in six and a half months when little Spooky arrives.’ I’m sure everyone would just love the sense of drama and considering the rest of today, I’m sure they’d believe it.</em></p><p>Scully’s internal musings were stopped by her sudden need to empty the contents of her stomach into the porcelain receptacle before her. The stress headache started the minute Dana Scully made the biggest discovery of her life. In the hour and a half following, it had turned into a migraine. When the session ended, she barely made it to the powder room before heaving up her brunch. It didn’t seem like her roiling stomach would ease anytime soon.</p><p><em>Yeh, I can just see that,</em> Scully’s mind could imagine the whispered truths being discussed between her colleagues,<em> especially if anyone caught me in the ladies spewing up my guts. No amount of clarification stops people thinking exactly what they wanted too.</em></p><p>The absolute silence broke with a metallic object hitting the tiled floor. Then a whispered curse as a hand reached down to collect the object. Two realisations struck at once, someone had been in the bathroom and Scully had spoken her internal thoughts aloud.</p><p><em>Great</em>, Scully considered the fall out of this, <em>not only am I married to Mulder, they’re all going to think I’m having his child.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mulder’s internal Scully radar detected her pain long before it began to show on her face. Always on high alert for any symptoms that could see her cancer return, Mulder commenced a slow panic when she cut out of the session the moment it ended. He followed at a more sedated pace. They’d caused enough of a sensation to last a lifetime. To be honest, Mulder didn’t quite know how to get them out of the situation.</p><p>When he couldn’t find Scully in the foyer, Mulder’s anxiety increased. Hanging around the door to the ladies, he correctly deduced her location. After nearly twenty minutes, Mulder finally gained the courage to ask the woman exiting the room, “is she in there?”</p><p>The female agent didn’t need to ask who. Joan Smith simply nodded. The gesture increased Mulder’s distress. The startled look on Smiths face confirming something had happened to Scully.</p><p>“Is she alone,” he forced the question past the lump in his throat. Mulder’s imagination ran wild, cataloguing the signs and symptoms of Scully previous illness. When Agent Smith once again gave a nod, he started to fidget on the spot. Smith continued to look at him with astonishment.</p><p>“Is she alright,” Mulder requested, his Scully alarm rose to terrifying proportions. Afraid of what he’d find, he forced the question passed his parched lips. When the Agent shook her head, Mulder couldn’t wait any longer. “Could you make sure no one disturbs us for a moment, please,” he tossed the order over his shoulder.</p><p>Not caring who took notice, he pushed through the door. Shocked at the picture before him, Mulder headed to the basin. Scully had slumped to the floor, her head resting against the tiled wall, dry tear tracks down her incredibly pale cheeks.</p><p>“It’s just a tension headache, Mulder,” Scully whispered in answer to the question forming in his eyes.</p><p>“Agent Smith didn’t seem to think so,” he retorted, gently touching her cheek. Taking a towel from the dispenser, he wet it. Wiping away the dry tear stains, Mulder commented, “you look like hell, Scully. Any nose bleeds?”</p><p>“No, Mulder, but my head’s killing me,” she replied, with a weary sigh.</p><p>“Can you stand,” Mulder asked with concern.</p><p>“I…I don’t think so,” a very vulnerable Scully faltered, fresh tears welling in her eyes, pleaded not to ask the questions she could see mounting in his mind.</p><p>“You know how this is going to appear,” Mulder responded, concerned only for what remained of her reputation.</p><p>“Right now, Mulder,” Scully shut her eyes against the pain in her head, “I don’t give a dam. I need to lie down.”</p><p>“Put your arms around my neck,” he suggested softly, scooping her up into his embrace. Closing her eyelids, Scully rested her head on Mulder’s shoulder. Choosing to block out the whispered innuendos as they passed through the conference room foyer, Mulder carried Scully back to their room.</p><p>“Do you think you could get the key out of my pocket,” Mulder asked at the door. He became aware of the open gaze of his colleagues three rooms down to the left. <em>It can’t be helped</em>, Mulder consoled.</p><p>Laying Scully gently on the bed, he helped take her jacket off and removed her shoes. Going to his bag, Mulder dug out two of pain killers Scully insisted he carry at all times, because of his likely hood of injury. In the bathroom he filled a glass of water, placing both on Scully’s bed side table.</p><p>“My head hurts,” Scully whined.</p><p>“I got a little something for that,” Mulder teased, sitting on the bed close to her.</p><p>“Only a little something,” she returned half-heartedly, taking the pain medication.</p><p>“Thank you,” Mulder pushed her back down, adjusting the pillows for her. He couldn’t resist tucking an errant curl behind Scully’s ear. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her forehead.</p><p>“Mulder,” Scully moved into the middle of the huge bed before patting the place alongside her.</p><p>“I didn’t think you wanted to share,” Mulder smiled, taking whatever she offered him. He would always take whatever Scully offered. Laying down he considered their relationship or lack of one. Scully allowed his touch, at her back, on her arm, but Mulder initiated most of their contact. He’d always been more emotional, touchy, and feely. Scully, on the other hand maintained a rigorous professionalism, which had been shattered today.</p><p>“Scully?” Mulder decided to press his luck. There were few times he saw her vulnerable. He wanted to take advantage of the chance he’d been given. Turning onto his back, he gathered her close. Scully utilized his shoulder to pillow her head. Mulder exploited their position to wrap his arm across her back, resting his hand on her hip. Surprised she allowed the intimate contact, Mulder waited for her response.</p><p>“Yes, Mulder,” she returned, realising he wouldn’t stop until he’d got this bee out of his bonnet.</p><p>“I love you,” he stated easily.</p><p>Rolling her eyes and thinking <em>Oh Brother</em>, Scully answered ironically, “that’s nice.”</p><p>“Scully?” he hadn’t finished.</p><p>“Yes, Mulder,” she wondered what he wanted now.</p><p>“Tell me you love me too,” he requested in a tone suggesting her answer meant more than their usual biennale banter.</p><p>“I love you too,” the words came out more effortlessly than Scully expected. <em>Then again, I’ve stopped fighting my feelings and acknowledged how much I care for this man</em>. “Now can I get some sleep?” she asked.</p><p>“Yes,” he teased happily, “but I have something for that too.”</p><p>“Why doesn’t that surprise me!” Scully retorted.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He’d been up and dressed for the pre-dinner drinks before she woke. It had taken some doing, but eventually, Scully had managed convince Mulder to go on ahead. Leaving her in peace to get dressed, she remembered Agent Joan Smith hearing her internal conversation in the ladies restroom, which led to her blinding headache. Taking the chance, Scully opened the door and checked the corridor. Mulder had long since gone.</p><p><em>What will be, will be</em>, Scully attempted philosophically<em>, and nothing I can do now will change the outcome</em>. Taking her time, Scully procrastinated as long as she could before joining Mulder in the bar for drinks.</p><p>“Mulder,” Scully looked pointedly at the glass in his hand. He’d consumed two tumblers in the minutes since she’d arrived.</p><p>“What, Scully,” Mulder tormented, subtle anger rising in his expression. Scully knew the rumour mill had worked over time on this one. Spoiling for a fight, he spat “afraid I can’t hold my liquor?”</p><p>“I know you can,” Scully retorted angrily after all this whole situation wasn’t entirely her fault. “I know when you’re drunk. I’ve been there with you before Mulder.”</p><p>“Afraid you’ll have to take me home and put me to bed, Scully,” he couldn’t stop. Mulder didn’t want to stop baiting her. When he’d overheard the crude comments by Agent Myers, Mulder’s temper hit the roof. When Agent Smith stated she heard the news directly from Scully lips, his anger found a target. Now that target stood before him, Mulder didn’t understand his rage or why it had been generated.</p><p>Something in his tone caught Scully’s attention. Talking the tumbler out of his hand, she retaliated, “I think you’ve had enough, Mulder.”</p><p>“Scully, I haven’t even gotten started,” he rebuked, removing a new glass from the tray of a passing waiter.</p><p><em>Well it I can’t beat him, I’m going to join him,</em> Scully pilfered a red wine.</p><p>“Oh, no you don’t,” Mulder jeered furiously grabbing the wineglass from her hand. His tone caught the attention of the people standing around them, “you’re a medical doctor Mrs Spooky. You should know better.”</p><p>“Mulder,” Scully paled, knowing without a doubt he’d heard the innuendos and she’d become his target, here, in a room full of people far too interested in their personal life.</p><p>“You know it’s not safe for pregnant women to drink,” he retuned spitefully.</p><p>“We are not going to do this here and now,” she stated, exasperated and not entirely sure how to cool his temper.</p><p>“No, we’re going to do this,” he stated, handing both glasses to the nearest stunned bystander, Mulder took Scully in his arms. He meant the kiss to be a punishment. Not sure if he punished himself or Scully, the kiss didn’t have a hope in hell of remaining harsh. Lips softened, mouths opened, tongues met and mated. The contact soon became intimate. Given the fact they’d expressed their deepest feeling for each other this afternoon, there could no other outcome.</p><p>“Hey,” Myers yelled resentfully, “get a room.”</p><p>“They’ve already got a room,” retorted a voice Scully knew. The heavy southern drawl broke Scully’s passion. Her embarrassment communicated to Mulder instantly. Cradling her in his embrace, Scully turned her head into his shoulder, as Mulder tucked it beneath his chin. He couldn’t undo the damage but his body language told Scully of his sorrow for placing her in this position. Mulder’s hold attempted to deflect attention from her, even though they both knew that to be impossible.</p><p>“Let’s get out of here,” Mulder suggested, his lips almost touching her hair.</p><p>“Let’s just get this over with, Spooky,” Scully returned sorrowfully, breaking away from his hold, “you know there’s no way we can back out now.”</p><p>“We’ll come up with something, Scully,” Mulder promised, draping his arm over her shoulders and glaring at several people intently watching them, “but lay off the red wine. I kind of like the idea of Little Spooky.”</p><p>“You like the idea for investigating an immaculate conception in the guise of an X-File,” retorted Scully, still amazed at how quickly their simmering anger could be diffused by that monumental kiss.</p><p>Dinner became an exercise in tolerance and endurance. Networking formed part of the agenda for the seminar. Guiding Scully into dinner, Mulder found they initially been placed at different tables.</p><p>“See anything strange,” he asked with a grin as Scully studied the seating arrangement.</p><p>Giving him one of her famous looks, she answered, “it could be worse. At least we’re not seated with Myers, Carpenter or Smith. That would lead to wonderful dinner conversation.”</p><p>“You go some explaining to do about Agents Smith’s rumours,” Mulder stated, his tone suggesting he hadn’t completely forgiven her yet.</p><p>“Later, Mulder, I’m trying for normal,” Scully told him embarrassed.</p><p>“Scully,” he teased, “we could never be described as normal.”</p><p><em>I’m done</em>, Mulder thought as he finished the last sip of coffee, <em>I’m done pretending she isn’t the centre of my world. I’m done with all this platonic touching. That kiss changed everything.</em></p><p>“To hell with it, Scully,” Mulder turned to whisper in her ear. He’d felt the sexual tension simmer between them thought out dinner. Scully’s cautious glances under her lashes only increased his resolve. “We’re out of here,” he stated harshly.</p><p>Nodding, Scully felt unspoken promises between them. <em>How can I deny myself after that kiss? It crossed the line I’ve drawn between us. We can never go back,</em> she realized. Standing, a hand reached for the base of her spine while many pairs of knowing eyes watched them leave the room.</p><p>“They all think we’re married,” Mulder commented on the way back to their room. Deciding on total honesty, he confessed, “I even wondered what it would be like to be married, to you. I’m done dancing around this issue.”</p><p>“We work together,” Scully attempted half-heartedly, pausing at their door.</p><p>“That hasn’t stopped people assuming we’ve together, Mrs. Spooky,” Mulder replied ironically, unlocking the door.</p><p>“Mulder,” Scully’s tone and eyes pleaded for him to stop, because she knew she couldn’t.</p><p>“You want this as much as I do,” he reached out for her, placing his hand on her shoulders, “don’t deny it,”</p><p>“Yes,” the confession sounded strangled, “yes I do.”</p><p>“Then damn your rational professionalism, this is just us now, here, in this room,” the determination in Mulder’s eyes told Scully she’d have to fight harder if she really, truly, didn’t what this to happen. “No one needs to know what happens.”</p><p>“I’d know,” she attempted, lying to herself.</p><p>“You’d deny us when fate has given us this opportunity?” Mulder asked, astounded by Scully’s continued internal conflict.</p><p>“No,” Scully leant into his warm embrace, revelling in his touch. The movement signalled her capitulation.</p><p>“I don’t believe in your God, Scully, but right about now I could thank him,” Mulder whispered, his face hovering so close, he could feel Scully’s breath.</p><p>“I don’t think it works that way, Mulder,” she returned, eyes locked, waiting for him to close the gap between them.</p><p>“Scully,” Mulder murmured, “you talk too much.”</p><p>“And I thought you’d tell me I had too much on,” Scully quipped, her hands reaching up to remove his jacket.</p><p>“I like the way you think, Scully,” Mulder laughed, returning to her delectable lips.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sleep left her slowly. Stretching, Scully became aware of a naked body pressed the length of her back. Mulder’s hand traced lazy circles on her bare stomach. She could tell he’d been awake for some time.</p><p>“Morning, Scully,” Mulder greeted, unfazed by the level of casual intimacy given they’d only become lovers last evening.</p><p>“What time is it?” Scully yawned, still tired after their exhausting night.</p><p>“Just after eight.” Waiting for his statement to sink in, Mulder bounced off the bed and headed for the shower. “Better rise and shine, sleepyhead. You don’t want to be late for breakfast. Everyone will put one and one together and come up with three.” Stopping to turn around and give her a full frontal, he added, “that’s right, everyone already thinks one into one makes three.”</p><p>“I said I was sorry,” Scully called to his retreating, naked, wonderful backside. After making love for the second time, Mulder had laughed with her at the Agent Smith bathroom story. The whole situation seemed comical at three in the morning after sharing so much with each other. They still hadn’t come up with any ideas on how to stop the circulating rumours, even though part of them proved true.</p><p>Hearing the water splash against the shower cubical, she waited two minutes. Evil Scully’s mind suggested, <em>save water, shower with a friend</em>. Before she could think better, Scully stepped into the spray behind Mulder.</p><p>“Nice of you to join me,” he mocked, pinning her against the wall and impaling her. What followed couldn’t be described as gentle, but it left both partners blissfully satisfied, for the moment at least. They walked into the dining room a few minutes later than their colleagues, sat at a table for two, rushed through breakfast, and hurried back to their room.</p><p>“Don’t look so worried, Scully,” Mulder teased, turning her to face him. “We’ve got half an hour before today’s session’s start.”</p><p>“You really think half an hour is enough, Mulder,” Scully returned, now the line had been crossed, she wanted this man, all the time, “you’ve been watching too many of those movies you swear aren’t yours.”</p><p>“Come on, Mrs. Spooky,” Mulder added, “I have to do research.”</p><p>“Is that what you call it,” sarcasm coloured her words.</p><p>Grinning, Mulder chose that moment to open the door. Scully fell through it. Only Mulder’s embrace stopped her from landing on her butt.</p><p>“Got you,” he smirked.</p><p>Scully felt his body language change. Standing her on her feet, Mulder swung the door closed while pushing Scully behind him in a protective gesture.</p><p>“Explain to me,” Skinner didn’t attempt to hide his ire, “in ten words or less, what the hell’s going on here.”</p><p><em>Oh, I knew this day would come</em>, Scully cursed. Breaking away from Mulder’s defensive hold, Scully went to her case. Digging into a secret compartment, she took out a laminated sheet and a small plastic bag. Hiding the packet in her left hand, she gave Skinner the paper.</p><p>Letting out her breath, Sully explained, “college friend, spring break, Martha’s Vineyard, gorgeous guy, drunken dare.” Counting in her mind, Scully thought, <em>yes, exactly ten words.</em></p><p>Mouth gapping wide, Skinner didn’t hide his astonishment. He looked from Scully to the evidence in his hand several times. His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish swimming in a small bowl. As his jaw moved from side to side, Skinner raised his hand to comb his non-existent hair. Examining Mulder’s expression, he felt sorry for the man. If he guessed correctly, from Agent Scully’s avoidance of her partners enquiring look, Mulder knew as little about this as Skinner did.</p><p>Passing the document to Mulder, he asked, “ever seen this before?”</p><p>“You got some explaining to do, Mrs Spooky,” Mulder couldn’t believe the evidence he’d been handed.</p><p>“When you’re through explaining this to Agent Mulder,” Skinner couldn’t help but smile as he brushed passed his agents and swept out of the room, “we can sort this mess out in my office, first thing Monday morning.”</p><p>Taking Scully’s left hand, Mulder extracted the second object from her grasp. Inside the little plastic evidence bag, two gold rings shone in the morning light. Astounded, Mulder look back to the marriage certificate in his hand making sure he understood. <em>How can I have been married to Scully for the last ten years and not remember it</em>, he wondered.</p><p>Then her words made sense. Scully had been with her <strong><em>college friend</em></strong> on <strong><em>spring break</em></strong> from Med School. They came to <strong><em>Martha’s Vineyard</em></strong>. At a loss, Mulder had flown home from England to lick his wounds from the Phoebe Green fiasco. He gotten drunk, hence the <strong><em>gorgeous guy</em></strong> which almost made Mulder smile. Finally, the wedding bands and certificate formed the <strong><em>drunken dare</em></strong>.</p><p>Scully knew the instant Mulder’s mind made all the connections. “You’re not mad,” Scully couldn’t believe it.</p><p>A slow, menacing smile covered Mulder’s face. “I wouldn’t say that, exactly, Mrs. Spooky Mulder,” he pronounced, a gleam in his eye sending a shiver of apprehension down Scully spine. “You’ve still got some explaining to do, but it gets us out of this situation.”</p><p>Taking her hand, Mulder slipped the smaller, inexpensive ring on her finger. He made a promise to replace it with something more suitable in the future. “Your turn,” he smirked wickedly handing her the larger of the two gold bands.</p><p>“Do you even remember the last time we did this,” Scully hedged, knowing how inebriated he’d been. “Mulder, we were so drunk you couldn’t consummate your wedding vows,” she remembered, “and after last night any hope for a secret annulment now gone.”</p><p>“Let’s just say, I had a premonition, or maybe a flashback, yesterday,” he replied, wiggling his digit at her. Swallowing hard, Scully did as he asked, thinking this could only get them further into trouble.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Premonition, Mulder,” Scully asked, one eyebrow raised in askance.</p><p>“Yes, Scully, while jogging I saw this,” holding up his hand now adorned with a gold ring, he continued, “and knew you’d have to wear one too.” Examining her, Mulder smiled slowly still rocked to his core by her revelations, “tell me how this happened, Dana, we still have twenty minutes before our next session starts.”</p><p>Sighing, Scully closed her eyes and started.</p><p>“Come on, Dana,” Chris whined, “it’ll be fun.”</p><p>“I have to study,” first year medical student Dana Scully returned her attention to the book on her desk.</p><p>“Today is like the official start of Spring Break,” Chris continued. “You know, midterms finished, one week of vacation, no one staying on campus.”</p><p>“I’m staying on campus,” looking up, Dana’s blue eyes expressed her impatience. “Grey, his anatomy and I have a lot of catching up to do if I want to get even a partial scholarship in my second year.”</p><p>“Bring Grey with you,” Chris offered magnanimously, “you can study every day, or at least part of it at Martha’s Vineyard. Besides, it’s a done deal.” With that, Chris threw down a plane ticket bearing Dana’s name on to the open page of her textbook.</p><p>“Chrissssssss,” she warned.</p><p>“Come on, Dana,” he grinned like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. “We’re going to have so much fun and it’s only for a few days.”</p><p>“When do we leave?” she asked, finally taking the ticket in her hand and looking at it. “Chris, this flight leaves in three hours.”</p><p>“I said I’s a done deal,” he walked out of her room, “you’d better start packing. I’ll be back in half an hour to drive us to the airport.”</p><p>“Great,” Dana closed her textbook with more force than she meant too.</p><p>Chris Carter, in these expansive moods, could be kind of cute. While she like him, a lot, Dana couldn’t see any kind of romantic relationship occurring between them. She just hoped this trip to his family’s summer home didn’t mean more to Chris than he let on.</p><p>Three days later, Dana knew her hope to be dead and buried. Since arriving, Chris had seemed determined to show her every possible site within an hour of his home. These had been accompanied by picnics, which, in other circumstances might have been considered romantic. At night they dinned in some intimate little cafés and restaurants. So far, Dana Scully hadn’t managed a moment to herself. She’d been too busy fending off Chris’s not so subtle advances and his father’s well-hidden barbs at her lack of breading and money.</p><p>It had taken some planning. Chris and his family though she’d be tucked up in bed, alone. Instead, Dana planned to sneak out of the house. As she crept down the hall, she partially overheard their conversation concerning her suitability as the Wife of Christopher Carter. Mrs Carter conditionally supported her son’s choice, while his father continued to be concerned Miss Dana Scully wanted their blue blood title and money. None of this came as a shock to Dana. The information only hardened her resolve not to spend another night in this house.</p><p><em>Well,</em> she promised, finally making her get away from the claustrophobic company of the Carters, <em>I am in desperate need of a drink. Then I need to think about getting back home.</em> She found a quiet bar, inquired about a room for the night at the attached hotel and made a call to the airline before finally sitting down to her first glass of white wine. With nothing but time on her hands, Dana’s mind catalogued the events of the last three days.</p><p>“I can’t believe Chris Carter lured me up here to meet his parents and they hate me,” she uttered under her breath, starting on her third glass. Dana knew she should have stopped at two or she wouldn’t be responsible for her actions.</p><p>“Talking, or in your case, muttering to yourself is considered the first sign of madness,” an attractive young man slid onto the bar stool beside her.</p><p>Raising an eyebrow and refusing to spare the man a gaze, Dana declined to answer. Being picked up by a drunken stranger didn’t enter into her plans for tonight. Besides, she could smell the stench of alcohol from a foot or more away and he appeared to have yet another tumbler in his hand. Her interest lay in getting back to Chicago and North Western at the earliest opportunity. Then she could put this whole mess behind her. For the moment, Dana Scully wanted to concentrate on getting slightly tipsy in an attempt to forget this ‘vacation’.</p><p>“Oh,” the stranger lent in and whispered into Dana’s ear, “trouble just entered the bar, if it’s Chris Carter and his family you’re hiding from.”</p><p>Turning for a quick glance at the entry, Dana sighed heavily, downing the last of her third glass of white wine. Chris and his father stood, searching the room. She knew the moment they saw her. The hair on the back of Dana’s neck bristled with each step they took towards her position at the bar. She didn’t realise how angry she’d become at being duped by Chris.</p><p>“Hiding out from your lover?” the forgotten man asked with a teasing smile, elbowing her in the ribs.</p><p>“Let’s just say I’ve been lured here on false pretences,” Dana answered disdainfully, finally turning to the man at her side. <em>Defiantly drunk but gorgeous</em>, her mind supplied, <em>but then again, I’ve had more than two glasses, so I guess most men might look gorgeous.</em></p><p>“Carter’s dad is a district judge,” he supplied easily. “It’s allowed Chris to get almost everything he ever wanted without thought or consideration for the feeling of others. If he wants you…...”</p><p>“Well, while he might want me, I’m not available for <strong><em>him</em></strong>,” Dana spat, but the man at her side simply laughed, “I swear, this entire mess is a conspiracy.”</p><p>He sobered immediately, giving Dana such an intense look, it took Chris’s angry “Mulder,” to break the non-verbal communication passing between them.</p><p>“Chris,” Mulder offered an unsteady open hand, while slightly slurring his words, “Mr Carter. It’s been quite a while.”</p><p>“Not nearly long enough, Mulder,” Chris returned spitefully.</p><p>“I thought you were in England,” Mr Carter added with distain. His look spoke volumes about the inebriated man.</p><p>“Came home to visit my Mother,” Mulder offered slowly in the attempt to articulate his words. “I’m returning to Oxford to finish my PhD at the end of the week. In the meantime, I’ve been keeping your house guest company.”</p><p>“I just bet you have,” Chris’s ire doubled as he ignored the polite greeting. “Dana, I think we’d better get you home.”</p><p>“I already checked with the airport,” she retorted, “the next available flight home isn’t until the morning. I’ve taken a room here for the night, so if you wouldn’t mind bringing my luggage in the morning, I’ll be out of your family’s way.”</p><p>“Where you intending to cut your visit short, Miss Scully,” Mr Carter asked with a slight smile but his words couldn’t hide his glee.</p><p>“Something about false pretences, Dana,” the man called Mulder asked in a far too innocent tone. His face might be dead pan, but Dana detected a history between him and Chris Carter which spoke volumes of trouble for her.</p><p>“You’d know all about that, Fox,” the disgust in Chris’s voice couldn’t hide the level of his revulsion for Mulder. “You’re the one who lost your sister and claimed she’d been abducted by aliens.”</p><p>The crest fallen expression on Fox Mulder’s face twisted Dana’s heart. She’d never experienced the loss of a loved one, but she could see how much the disappearance of his sister affected the man at her side. As for Chris’s easy dismissal, it didn’t sit well. <em>Then again, I don’t know all the facts</em>, she remembered<em>, there could be much more to this story than meets the eye. Right now, I’m inclined to side with Fox Mulder</em>.</p><p>“You’re not the person I thought you were,” Dana stated, more than a little annoyed.</p><p>Snorting, Chris returned, “neither are you if you prefer the company of Fox Mulder to decent upstanding people.”</p><p>“Low shot, Chris,” Mulder chimed in. His voice didn’t betray his dislike of the Carter’s but Dana picked up the exceptionally subtle body language. Leaning in closer to the woman at his side, Mulder tossed a carelessly casual arm across her shoulder. Chris’s pupils dilated in anger and Dana realised she had unwittingly become the prize in the conflict between these men. “Then again, most people prefer my company to that of some spoilt rich kid and his family.”</p><p>“I bought you here to ask you to marry me,” Chris stated, his words meant for Dana. Watching the byplay before him, an evil gleam entered his eye and Dana knew neither she nor Fox would escape this encounter without some damage, “but, hey, if you want to throw your life away on the chance of happiness with the likes of him, I dare you to marry him instead.”</p><p>“Almost anyone would be preferable to you right now,” the slow anger building up in Dana Scully found an outlet. She hated being dared to do anything and Chris knew it. <em>He’s baiting me</em>, she realised, <em>just wait until I take up your ridicules challenge. Not that it could possibly be achieved, legally. It’s time to call your bluff Mr Chris ‘I have a Judge for a father and get what I want’ Carter.</em></p><p>“Then prove it,” Chris taunted.</p><p><em>That it</em>, Dana’s anger burst the boundaries of her rational mind, determined to show Chris up. “Lead the way,” she supplied, taking Fox Mulder’s hand and pulling him along with her.</p><p>“Dana…..Scully….” unable to walk a straight line, he wavered, asking in a small voice, “you sure you really want to do this.”</p><p>“Determined,” she answered back, the three glasses of wine wiping out every rational thought and allowing her feelings of hurt and anger free reign.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Much to Dana’s astonishment, Judge Carter appeared to have come prepared. Marching them into the elevator and up to Dana’s room, he whipped out some official looking papers. In a tone brooking no opposition, he demanded of Fox and Dana, “sign,” and pointed to the place he wanted their autographs. Out of a pocket Judge Carter produced a collection of cheap gold bands. Sizing the pair up, he chose two. “Put these on,” he demanded.</p><p>“Dana, you don’t need to do this,” Mulder hesitated. The determined look she gave him, accompanied by her slipping the band on his left ring finger left little option but to follow her lead. <em>She seems able to take care of herself, so she must know what she’s doing</em>, Mulder reasoned, <em>cause I sure as hell can’t after half a bottle of scotch</em>.</p><p>“Yes, I do,” she retorted.</p><p>“By the power vested in me by the state of Rhode Island, I pronounce you Husband and Wife,” Charles Carter grunted happily, handing Dana a copy of a civil marriage certificate. Unable to stop himself, Judge Carter added in a snide tone, “now you’re out of Christopher’s life, you money grabbing hussy, with no way back in.”</p><p>“Nice people,” Mulder commented.</p><p>“Please leave,” Dana’s temper got the better of her. Opening the door, she promised, “I hope to never cross you path again, Mr Carter, Chris.”</p><p>“You just made a bad enemy,” Mulder offered, turning a deeper shade of green by the second.</p><p>“Maybe, but without a legal marriage licence, this civil certificate isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on,” Dana told him ironically.</p><p>“Excuse me,” he offered, rushing past Dana on the way to the bathroom.</p><p><em>Well at least he’s not a lecherous drunk</em>, Scully thought holding a cool wash cloth to the man currently emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet.</p><p>“You okay, Fox,” Dana asked uncertainly.</p><p>“I make everyone call me Mulder,” he stated.</p><p>“Even your new wife,” she teased, feeling at ease with this man. <em>Probably because he’s a pitiful drunk</em>, her mind added while a smile turned up the corners of her lips, <em>and I’m more inebriated than I suspected.</em></p><p>“Especially my wife,” he retched once again, wiping his mouth with the cloth she handed him. “Thank you,” he offered. “I never thought I’d get married.”</p><p>“Me either,” Dana confessed. “Especially not like this.”</p><p>“Yet, here we are,” turning his hazel gaze on her, a shy, somewhat embarrassed smirk covered his features. “I think I’m done here. You know, on previous experience, I won’t remember any of this in the morning. You mind if I crash here, no funny stuff, I promise.”</p><p>“From the look of you, you couldn’t get up to any funny stuff, even if you wanted too,” her warm, rich laughter cut the air. “Come on, let’s get you into bed.”</p><p>“Only if you come too,” he attempted funny, but it sounded pathetic to his ears.</p><p>Escorting him to the bed, Dana helped him undress to his T-shit and boxers. She’d seen more naked men in the university hospital but found his body stunningly and built. Taking her mind off the man before her, Dana asked, “any reason for the private pity party.”</p><p>“A woman,” he stated mournfully.</p><p>“Oh,” she let him decide if he wanted to continue this conversation. <em>Not that I’m interested</em>, she had to remind herself.</p><p>After tucking the blankets around him, Fox Mulder promptly fell into a very heavy, alcohol induced sleep. It allowed Dana Scully to remove his wedding band, as well as her own. <em>I’ll keep these as a memento of my stupidity in accepting Chris Carters invitation for Spring Break</em>, she decided, placing them alongside the certificate of marriage in her handbag for safe keeping, <em>and I can only hope this Fox Mulder lives up to his word and doesn’t remember a thing in the morning.</em></p><p>Moving back to the bathroom, she drank three large tumblers of water. Taking the couch, she decided on a plan of action. Tomorrow, she’d make a stop at the county court house to ensure the marriage hadn’t been registered by Chris or his father. If it had, she’d apply for an annulment. Then Dana needed to board her plane and return to her real life in Chicago leaving this experience as a bad dream.</p><p>“I’m sorry Ma’am,” the diminutive blond behind the counter explained, “this certificate is only a civil union. I can see the Judge Carter oversaw the ceremony, but he hasn’t filed the licence and other official documents. I can’t offer you an annulment if there is no official record to the marriage.”</p><p>“You’re telling me this isn’t a legal marriage,” Dana asked to ensure she got it right.</p><p>“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” the clerk looked confused at the woman’s elated smile. “Even if this marriage were legal, you’d still need your husband to sign all the paper work for an annulment. But that’s not an issue.”</p><p>Thanking her, Dana returned to her waiting taxi, the airport and finally home. Scully congratulated herself on calling Chris Carter’s bluff. Safe in the knowledge she’d escaped the fall out of a drunken dare. That all changed when class resumed and Chris found her studying in the library.</p><p>“I believe you already have the civil certificate,” he sneered, “Well here’s the legal accompaniment,” he slammed down the paper on her book. “Oh, and by the way, before you attempt to get an annulment, I made sure the reception desk changed your hotel booking to Mr and Mrs Fox Mulder. Hard to get out of that one, especially as Fox left for England the next morning,” Chris’s evil laughter followed him as he swaggering away.</p><p>“So, this is all Chris Carter doing,” Mulder couldn’t help himself at the irony. “Remind me to thank him the next time I see him. Come on Mrs Spooky, we’re due in the conference room.”</p><p>“You are not going to let this go, are you Mulder,” Scully commented in a tone he’d usually back away from.</p><p>“Not in this life time, Mrs Spooky,” he teased happily.</p><p>“Mulder,” she warned.</p><p>“Oh, I’m sorry, would you prefer Mrs Mulder,” he attempted innocence, “or maybe Mrs Mulder-Scully. It is your legal name.”</p><p>“So much for Maslow and his hierarchy of needs,” Scully muttered under her breath. “Call me anything by Scully again and I’ll shoot you in the other shoulder.”</p><p>“Did anyone ever tell you, you’re no fun, Scully,” Mulder placed his hand, not at the base of her spine as usual, but on the opposite hip and pulled her into him so their thighs brushed with each step. “You’re still going to be Mrs Spooky Mulder at home,” he leant down and whispered into her ear.</p><p>“In your dreams, Mulder,” she retorted with a snort, unable to break the physical contact his hand enforced or her hopes his words invoked.</p><p>“Well, I intend to do all my dreaming in your…I’m sorry, our apartment from now on,” he teased lightly, enough sincerity colouring his word for Scully to look up at him.</p><p>“Mulder,” Scully moaned, giving him one of her famous eye rolls.</p><p>“We’re married now Scully,” he cut her off, “a husband and wife most defiantly live together. I got the ring to prove it!”</p><p>“Well you get to explain that one to The Skinman on Monday morning,” she retorted.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Mulder,” Scully hissed under her breath as they approached the reception desk of the small hotel. “This is not the way to the West conference room.”</p><p>All the way down the corridor from their room to the elevator, then through the foyer, Mulder refused to let go of her hip. Entering this very public area, Scully’s professionalism reasserted itself. Fighting the feel of her partner, and now lovers touch on her hip, she attempted to make some space between them. <em>Impossible</em>, her brain told her, <em>there’s never been any space between you, right from day one</em>.</p><p>A flash of her first official meeting with Mulder in his basement office flew into her mind. She’d been so nervous. Nervous he would remember her or at least the appearance of Dr Dana Scully would stir long forgotten memories. Instead, he’d considered himself the FBI’s most unwanted and then asked her who she’d ticked off to get this assignment. In her head, Scully had asked God why she’d been put in this position, but recovered quickly enough that he hadn’t noticed. She’d actually told him, her husband, that she was looking forward to working with him.</p><p>“Trust me,” Mulder whispered, his lips brushing the top of her head.</p><p>“The last time I trusted you, got us into this mess,” she retorted.</p><p>“Right,” he returned sarcastically, holding up his left hand to admire the glinting gold now nestled on his finger, “on a night I don’t even remember. Almost ten years ago,” he stressed the last words.</p><p>“Agent Mulder,” the young man behind the desk offered to the bickering pair, “Mrs Mul,” he glanced at his computer and corrected, “Dr Scully, how can I assist you today?”</p><p>“My wife and I would like to stay for the weekend. Would it be possible to keep our room tonight and tomorrow night?” Mulder requested. He didn’t dare look at Scully for her reaction. He hadn’t asked<strong><em> her</em></strong> about prolonging their stay. As usual, he’d just made the decisions and expected Scully to fall in with him. Somewhere in his mind a voice told him married couples actually made choices together. Tightening his grip, Mulder let a playful, goofy grin cover is face. <em>I’m married</em>, he suddenly realised, <em>I’m married to Scully and that thought doesn’t bother me in the least</em>.</p><p>“You’re in luck. The room is available,” the young man smiled, the twinkle in his eye suggesting he knew what they’d get up to for the rest of the weekend. Hesitantly he added, “I’ll need to bill this separately.”</p><p>Finally letting go of Scully, Mulder pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed over his credit card.</p><p>“Don’t look now, Mulder,” Scully spoke very quietly. She’d turned around to walk away from him, but now stood frozen beside her husband fiddling with the new band on her finger. “This entire scene has been witnessed by at least a dozen curious agents on their way to our second last session.”</p><p>“Really,” Mulder expressed mock surprise, “and I though they only discussed out sex life around the water cooler on the third floor in the D.C. office. Looks like I’m wrong.” Having placed his card back into his wallet, Mulder returned his hand to Scully’s hip, and escorted her towards the conference room. “I wonder who’s going to win the prize money.”</p><p>“Prize money,” Scully lifted an eyebrow.</p><p>“Yeah, Scully,” he smiled, wondering if she really didn’t know about the office pool. Scully’s level of professionalism went way beyond anyone else.</p><p>“Which one?” she enquired, his apprehensive look suggesting he didn’t know the extent of the betting on them. Not attempting to hide her wide grin, she informed her sometimes naive partner, “who bets there already married, who bets when they’ll get married, who bets when they finally do it, or finally, who bets on when they get caught in the act.”</p><p>“Wow, Scully,” Mulder spoiled the feigned shock with laughter, “I didn’t realise Mr and Mrs Spooky Mulder had that much of a fan club. What say we give them something to really talk about?”</p><p>“You mean more than we have this weekend,” once again her eyebrow rose, “they still think I’m pregnant, Mulder.”</p><p>“Hey, not my fault,” he shrugged.</p><p>“Don’t say that to loud, Spooky,” Scully elbowed him in the ribs, “you want to start questions about the paternity of my non-existent embryo. That would add a whole new dimension to the talk around the office water cooler.”</p><p>Mulder couldn’t help himself, he had to laugh at the thought.</p><p>After cutting out of dinner early and ignoring their colleagues at breakfast, interested gazes followed the pair as they entered the conference room. Because of Mulder’s impulsive stop, they’d arrived after everyone else. It didn’t take long for the whispers to start at the flash of gold gracing both Mulder and Scully’s wedding fingers. Agents Smith, Fernandez and two other women, Scully suspected would have heavy southern accents, attempted to corner them.</p><p>“Mulder,” Scully warned, but he’d already seen the assault and taken defensive measures. “There is nowhere to hide. Let’s just get this out of the way.”</p><p>“I’d like you to find you partner and stand next to them in a line against the back wall,” Professor Jackson requested, saving the day. Several loud grumbles could be heard but the well-trained agents did as they were told. “I’m going to give each of you a number, for example, 1, 1, which signifies the table number and seat designation for our last two sessions this morning. The aim is to split working partners, pitting each table against the others to solve problems.”</p><p>By the time Jackson reached Scully, she received table 8, seat 3. Mulder being next in line would be at table 1, seat 4. Once they took their positions, Mulder escorted Scully to her chair, pulled it out, allowed her to sit and finally kissed her full on the lip. “I miss you already, Mrs Spooky,” he said, just loud enough for Agent Smith, seated on Scully left to hear. Before leaving, he gently placed a hand on her belly, and added, “look after our little package.”</p><p><em>I’m going to kill him</em>, Scully’s dangerously sparking eyes promised, watching Mulder saunter towards his table as though he didn’t have a care in the world<em>. Thank god he’s not only on the other side of the room, but as far away from me as he can be, or I might just be tempted to shoot him again.</em></p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>“Now you’ve all found your assigned seats, you have the next five minutes to get to know the member of your new team,” John Jackson announced, “after which the games begin.”</p><p>Cursing his photographic memory, Mulder didn’t need to be introduced to the other members of his group. Unfortunately, Myers sat to his left and Fernandez to his right. <em>Well this ort to make for a pleasant four hours</em>, Mulder berated, knowing he’d mostly caused the situation. Jake Warner, Nickoli Stoynov and Sue Lam made up the rest of their table. Realising all eyes rested on him, Mulder felt impelled to break the suddenly deafening silence.</p><p>“Mulder,” he attempted a warm, open smile. <em>I hope you’re proud of me, Scully, I’m trying to play nice!</em> Mulder really wanted to turn around and make eye contact with his partner. She always knew how to handle people, how to handle him. <em>She always knows how to guide me through social situations like this</em>, he thought.</p><p>“We all know who you are,” Myers chimed in impatiently. “Bloody bad luck to get stuck with you, Spooky. I suppose you want to amuse yourself with little green men instead of solving problems like a real FBI Agent.”</p><p><em>How I want to play with his mind and say grey</em>, Mulder bit his tongue.</p><p>“Actually,” Stoynov chimed in, “they are reported to be grey.”</p><p>“Oh. come on,” Myers complained, “don’t tell me you believe in ET too!”</p><p>“Given the size of the galaxy, the number of possibly habitable planets, statically, it’s not so improbable that other life forms exist,” Sue Lam answered dead pan. “I’m Sue Lam from the Statistics and Analysis Unit,” she introduced, “I believe Dr…Ah… Agent Scully did a great job of introducing you yesterday, Myers, but I’d like to refresh my memory of the rest of you.”</p><p>Sue’s smile became infectious.</p><p><em>Wow, how did I get so lucky?</em> Mulder wondered, searching the faces of Syoynov, Lam and Warner. Not one of them appeared to give any credence to his Spooky reputation or the rumours currently in circulation. <em>This might just be fun after all</em>.</p><p>Meanwhile at Scully’s table, things didn’t go quite so well.</p><p>“I thought I heard you say the baby’s due in six months,” Agent Pam Smith commented with the intention of starting a conversation.</p><p>The question caught the interest of the four other Agents at the table. As Scully looked around, she cursed her luck. Not only did she have the misfortune to be seated next to Joan Smith, but Agent Carpenter and Tim Wu, one of the M.E.’s from Quantico. They’d come across each other several times in her residency and teaching years. Tim’s love of gossip, combined with his innate sense of humour made him the centre of any party.</p><p><em>He’ll be enjoying my discomfort and storing away every syllable I utter so he can spew it back out once he gets back to D.C.</em>, Scully groaned inwardly. Glancing toward table one, she forced a smile. Maria Fernandez and Myers sat either side of Mulder. <em>At least I don’t get to have all the fun</em>, Scully couldn’t hide her internal glee. Until she realised Mulder smiled, that slow sexy smile he normally reserved for her, aimed directly at one of the women seated at his table.</p><p>“What,” she broke the all-consuming gaze, forcing her attention back to her colleagues.</p><p>“My daughter acted the same way with her pregnancies,” Miriam Sunders chimed in happily. Her gaze following Scully’s, realising where her mind had wondered off to.</p><p>Turning red, Scully couldn’t hide her embarrassment. Sensing his colleague’s mortification, the final agent at the table spoke for the first time, recalling the other to their task. Looking into the deep brown eyes of the man she’d never met before, Scully silently thanked him.</p><p>“Now you have met your fellow team members, let the games begin. For the first round,” the facilitator’s voice stopped the chatter in the room, “we have a treasure hunt. Only you are not to leave your assigned seats. Between the six people in your group, you have fifteen minutes to come up with all the items on the list. Please choose an individual to come and collect your list.”</p><p>Myer’s elected to complete this task without consulting anyone. This drew four pairs of knowing eyes to the same conclusion. The agent would be their weakest link. Returning to his seat, he perused the paper, refusing to share the information until he decided which of the objects he could provide the team. A fact Mulder noted as he peered over Myer’s shoulder to take a quick glance at the list of items.</p><p>“I have all of them,” Mulder stated factually.</p><p>“You don’t even know what’s on the list,” Fernandez commented sarcastically.</p><p>“I have an eidetic memory,” Mulder informed the woman, glaring at her, “please allow me to prove it to you.”</p><p>Without further comment, Mulder produced each item on the list.</p><ol>
<li>Wedding ring – from his left hand</li>
<li>Something to do with outer space – the alien key chain from his pocket</li>
<li>A size 13 shoe – from his left foot</li>
<li>$100 bill – from his wallet in his back pocket</li>
<li>Letter on FBI stationary – the official invite to the seminar still in his wallet</li>
<li>Nokia cell phone – from his pocket</li>
<li>Omega watch –from his right wrist</li>
<li>Necklace or bracelet – Scully’s, removed when she experienced her headache the day before and he’d removed for safety, forgetting to return it</li>
<li>2 Tylenol or similar – in his pocket, left over from Scully’s headache</li>
<li>Book or magazine – tourist guide taken from the hotel counter this morning</li>
<li>Ball point pen – inside his jacket</li>
<li>Loud tie – removed from his neck</li>
<li>Cross or crucifix – attached to Scully’s necklace</li>
<li>Handkerchief – from his top pocket</li>
<li>Key to your partners home – on the alien key chain labelled Scully</li>
</ol><p>Mulder so desperately wanted to turn to both Myers and Fernandez and say, “I told you so,” before sticking out his tongue. He resisted the impulse as too childish. Instead he turned to look towards the back of the room. Scully, just discovering the cross, usually nestled at the top of her cleavage, gone. Suddenly her face jerked up, cerulean blue eye’s locked with his. Unable to help himself, and knowing she would make his life a misery, Mulder held the jewellery aloft for her to see. A wide smile covered his face, before turning back to his colleagues.</p><p>“I’ll pay for that,” he laughed easily, sharing the joke with Stoynov, Lam and Warner. Myers and Fernandez scowled. Obviously, they believed Mulder to be a show off.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How’s your morning been, Scully?” Mulder approached her carefully at coffee break. Blue eyes flashed, lips pursed, he decided to heed her warning. Taking her necklace from his pocket, he indicated she should turn around. Quickly dropping it into place, he closed the clasp. Resting his hands on her shoulders, well aware they were the object of scrutiny, Mulder whispered in her ear, “Tea or coffee.”</p><p>“Tea,” Scully managed to choke out. She’d been expecting something else from him entirely. Usually Mulder took every opportunity to flirt and tease, especially in front of an audience.</p><p>Watching him as he added a baked good to each saucer, Scully narrowed her eyes. <em>I wonder what he’s up to now</em>, she thought suspiciously. After all, his team had blitzed the competition in the morning session. That alone should have led to at least one gloating remark. Obviously, no one had thought to mention his photographic memory to John Jackson, because all the games were built around this skill. Within ten minutes, Mulder had been board. Lucky for the ceiling, no sharpened pencils had been issued.</p><p>“Agent Scully,” an Asian woman approached her, “I’m Sue Lam.”</p><p>“You’re with Mulder’s group,” Scully held out her hand, unsure how she felt about the woman receiving her husband’s sexy smiles, “congratulations for wining this morning.”</p><p>“We had an unfair advantage,” she stated easily, “one I suspect most of the Bureau don’t respect enough. Your husband’s mind works in strange and mysterious ways.”</p><p>The comment drew Scully intent gaze. Realising the statement complemented her partner, finally, she smiled and stated, “if he chooses to behave himself.”</p><p>“Talking about me again, Scully,” Mulder chimed in, handing her the tea and goodies.</p><p>“Wow, a gentleman too,” Sue smiled knowingly at the pair. “I can’t believe there is a man who still carries a handkerchief today.”</p><p>“Don’t get too excited about chivalry,” Scully added in a dead pan tone, “it’s for wiping his prints off when he’s where he is not supposed to be.”</p><p>“Ah, come on Scully, I haven’t ditched you in…” Mulder started.</p><p>“Three cases,” she chose to tease him, feeling comfortable in Sue’s presence, “a record, I believe.”</p><p>“How on earth do you two work together?” Sue asked, intrigued but shaking her head at the easy banter.</p><p>“That’s part of the solution,” Scully quipped, a smile covering her lips, her blue eye’s searching for Mulder’s, “my partner’s mind very often works anywhere but on earth.”</p><p>“They don’t call me ‘Spooky’ for nothing,” he returned with a wide grin, placing his hand in the middle of Scully’s back. In one of his lightning fast changes of moods, Mulder suddenly sounded like a board three-year-old. “I hope we don’t have to sit through another two hours of memory games. I’m so wired after this morning, I need to work off some energy.”</p><p>The unintended sexual innuendo hit the two women at the same instant. As they looked at each other, similar thoughts ran through their minds. Although Mulder hadn’t meant any overt conations, neither could help the chuckle that escaped. Further eye contact proved too much, leading to a full-bodied giggle. Finally, they howled in gales of laughter.</p><p>“It wasn’t that funny,” Mulder looked around, perplexed and slightly crestfallen. His expression wondered what he’d said to create this reaction in his usually staidly professional Scully. The small group had become the centre of attention.</p><p>Railing in her mirth, Scully decided to let him in on the joke. “You can burn off some of your energy after the conference is over, Mulder,” she stated, rolling her eyes and using that tone to feign annoyance. “It only another two hours before we’ll be free. Then we’re here for the entire weekend.”</p><p>“Promise, Mrs Spooky,” he leered, using the sexy smile he knew Scully secretly responded too.</p><p>“That’s my que to exit,” Sue couldn’t hide her continued amusement at the pair. Turning, she added, loud enough for those close enough to heed, “I’d heard so much about the two of you. I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to make up my mind after working with you Agent Mulder and meeting your wife. If you’re ever in Seattle, feel free to look me up. I’d like to introduce you to my family.”</p><p>“See, Scully,” Mulder stooped, whispering in her ear. “I can play nice and make new friends.”</p><p>“As to keeping them,” Scully fired back, the remainder of her earlier amusement lingering in her expression, “I’m not so sure about that.”</p><p>“Don’t you trust me, Mrs Spooky,” he returned in a similar tone.</p><p>“About as far as I can throw you, Mulder,” she stated.</p><p>“That could be fun,” the wicked grin reached his intent gaze. Scully wanted to shiver in apprehension and delight but managed to control the urge. “Did I ever tell you I excel at bedroom sports?”</p><p>“I would never have guessed,” Scully shot over her shoulder, returning to the conference room.</p><p>Finally turning the tables and making fun of Mulder, lightened Scully mood enough to go back for the next session in a better frame of mind. It turned out to be a little more fun, with a real treasure hunt. They’d been provided cryptic clues as to the location of the objects each team needed to find. It took time to realise the teams had the same items to collect at the same locations, but the starting points differed.</p><p>Mulder memory and unusual reasoning once again proved to be an asset to his team. Releasing Myers and Fernandez to play by the rules, Mulder and the others split up to follow the teams they believed most likely decipher their hints correctly. Scully on the other hand, talked the desk Clark into photocopying each of her team members the list of clues. Splitting into pairs, it didn’t take long to realise Mulder’s plan when the hair on the back of her neck bristled.</p><p>“Simon,” she leant into her companion and temporary partners, “we’re being followed.”</p><p>An amused smile mirrored the twinkle in the older agents’ brown orbs. “There are advantages to knowing your partner so well,” he bantered. “The question is how can we use that against him when he would have memorised the clues?”</p><p>“Ah,” Scully found herself enjoying the idea of leading Mulder deliberately astray, “I could take him out of the game. That would diminish the advantage.”</p><p>“I like your thinking, Dana. You’ll have to hide him somewhere you won’t be found,” he sighed as if the task were onus, “we wouldn’t want any more talk about you.”</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I can’t believe you did that, Scully,” Mulder complained, albeit good naturedly as he caught up to his wife.</p><p>Wrapping a hand around her waist, he escorted her into the conference room, choosing a seat beside her. Truthfully, he’d enjoyed the half hour of hooky they’d played in the little wooded area between the hotel and the golf course. So much so, he’d let his guard down around Scully. Just as she hoped he would with her completely unexpected and unprofessional behaviour.</p><p>Being found handcuffed to a tree and gagged with his tie by Sue Lam turned out to be a little embarrassing. Lam couldn’t hide her glee at being part of the joke. Mulder discovered her complicity when Sue produced the key Scully had provided to extricate him.</p><p>“All fair in love and war,” Scully returned, her blue orbs delighted she’d been responsible for her team winning the second round of games.</p><p>“Two can play at that game,” he said, reminding Scully the session hadn’t ended just yet. They still had to sit through Jackson’s closing remarks.</p><p>“I’m counting on it, Mulder,” her eyes made promises he wanted to take up. Then Scully deliberately ran the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip. It held him speechless for several seconds, allowing Scully to add, “remember we have all weekend to work on this contest. I plan to win.”</p><p>“I’m a sore loser, Mrs Spooky,” the softly spoken words held little humour but pledges that they’d both enjoy the competition.</p><p>“Then maybe I won’t win,” turning her head in his direction, Scully’s answer held its own promise of what might eventuate over the next two days and nights, “all the time.”</p><p>Mulder spluttered, unable to find an appropriate retort in time.</p><p>“Thank you all for attending,” Associate Professor John Jackson finally ended his closing remarks. Not that either agent heard a single word. They waited for their colleagues to clear the room allowing them to contemplate the rest of the afternoon in the solitude of each other’s company.</p><p>“Time to work off some of that pent-up energy, Mulder,” Scully teased when she knew they wouldn’t be overheard.</p><p>“First one to the room gets to be on top,” he suggested, about to make his getaway.</p><p>“Hey, Spooky,” Scully didn’t need to say more as she held up the room key she’d lifted from his wallet while she distracted him in the woods.</p><p>“Your round, Mrs Spooky,” Mulder conceded far too easily. “It’s just as well I like a woman on top, but this is just the beginning of the war.”</p><p>Hours and a lot of expanded energy later, they both lay spent. Cuddling in the middle of the king-size bed, Mulder’s stomach grumbled. They’d skipped lunch for more pleasant activities. Dressing for dinner became too much trouble. Room service seemed to be the order of the day.</p><p>“Mulder,” Scully turned serious, pausing with a fork of salad half way to her mouth, “how are we going to handle this?”</p><p>Reality suddenly appeared on the horizon of her perfect weekend. Scully couldn’t ignore the truth. She didn’t want to give Mulder and their fledgling relationship up. Neither did she want to trade their working partnership for a romantic entanglement which might not work. Added to that, they would celebrate ten years of marriage on Sunday. By Monday, everyone interested in betting on Mr and Mrs Spooky would be discussing the rumours generated in the last two days.</p><p>Shrugging his shoulders, he didn’t quite understand the specific questions. So he asked, “what’s to handle?”</p><p>“Be serious,” she pleaded, embarrassed by the entire situation.</p><p>“No, really, Scully,” he replaced his silverware on the table. Reaching out, Mulder took her hand in his, locking their gaze. He wanted to calm all her fears, answer all the questions crowding into her mind. “We’ve worked together for the past four years. During that time, most of the Bureau believed we were involved or at least sleeping together. We’ve been closed down, separated and used against one another. What more can they do to us?”</p><p>Scully could only agree with his rhetorical question. Attempting to lighten the mood, Mulder stated in a humorous tone, “and I bet you were completely honest about your marital status on your FBI application.”</p><p>“I…I told them I had been married,” she stuttered in agreement, “but currently in the process of attempting to get it annulled.”</p><p>“Is that the reason you joined the Bureau,” Mulder didn’t know why he asked. It just seemed to make sense to him, “to track me down?”</p><p>“Partly, but I don’t want to talk about past decisions now,” Scully hid her expression by finding the salad on her plate extremely fascinating. Heaving a sigh, she schooled her face into neutrality before confessing, “I kept a diary just in case this ever happened. So you would know how I felt.”</p><p>“When did you start it?” Mulder couldn’t be more surprised if Scully suddenly confessed to believing in aliens and a greater conspiracy.</p><p>“The day I realized ‘Spooky’ Mulder and my legal but estranged husband were on one and the same,” Scully sighed.</p><p>“Your first day at the academy?” irony laced his tone.</p><p>“About week five actually,” Scully managed a weak smile.</p><p>“My reputation obviously wasn’t as well established then,” this time Mulder’s sarcasm reached his hazel orbs.</p><p>“I….” not sure how to say she hadn’t been that interested beyond initial surprise, Scully forced her vocal cords to utter, “Jack and I were together by then.”</p><p><em>Well that took the wind out of my sails</em>, Mulder cursed mentally, before finding the courage to ask, “did you tell him?” When Scully shook her head in the negative, he felt impelled to ask, “why not?”</p><p>This time, Scully hesitated, wondering how to tell the truth. Mulder and Jack knew of each other through one of their early cases. He’d been so supportive when Jack died. Dana knew her husband deserved the truth. Finally gathering the courage to look him directly in the eye, she simply said, “it never got serious enough.”</p><p>“You dated for a year,” Mulder seemed astounded by the confession.</p><p>“Never lived together, never discussed it,” the words poured out, “I think we both knew the relationship could only be transitory.”</p><p>“Scully,” a mixture of hope and despair entered Mulder’s tone, “please don’t tell me we were love at first sight.” The implications, for Mulder at least would be devastating. After all, he’d fought the attraction almost from the beginning. Opening up and telling Scully about Samantha negated his distrust on their first case. Dana’s abduction made Mulder face the truth, he felt something more for his partner. Seeing her lying in that hospital bed on her return demanded he do everything in his power to keep her safe. Not until the Pfaster case, did he come to understand that he loved her. When they almost died together in New Hampshire on their next investigation, Mulder knew he could never lose the woman he’d fallen<strong><em> in</em></strong> love with.</p><p>The astounding expressions crossing his face brought a genuine smile to Scully’s lips, “I won’t tell you it, it wasn’t love at first sight, at least not for me,” she finished with sadness and regret, more at his forlorn expression.</p><p>“So, I really was just a drunken dare,” he didn’t seem all that impressed by this reality either.</p><p>“Afraid so,” Scully responded, the smile still playing at her lips. Cheekily she asked, “does that crush your ego?”</p><p>Ignoring her attempt to divert his attention, Mulder continued his probing by asking, “and now?”</p><p>Letting out the breath Scully didn’t realize she’d been holding in the hope of side tracking his questions, she could only tell him, “read my diaries. They will tell you everything you need to know.”</p><p>“And then we make decisions,” Mulder continued firmly.</p><p>“Yes,” she agreed, “together this time, Mulder. No running away from the inconvenient truth.”</p><p>“Scully, everyone in D.C. will know by Monday morning,” he warned. They needed to be prepared. They only had two days to make major life changing decisions and he still had four years of his wife’s emotional life to catch up on.</p><p>“By then you will have ready my diaries,” the non-verbal communication they’d come to rely upon didn’t fail them. Scully spoke Mulder’s thoughts, “we’ll either play this off as the biggest joke of the century and get a quiet divorce…”</p><p>“Or,” he prompted, wondering what other options Scully envisaged.</p><p>“Make it work, somehow,” she enunciated each word slowly, not believing this alternative might occur.</p><p>“Are those my only options?” he queried, his tone more serious than Scully could ever recall.</p><p>Taking several moments to scrutinize his body language, Scully replied, “unless you can come up with something else, yes.”</p><p>“Just one more question Scully,” Mulder didn’t know if he really wanted the answer to this one. Yet it might explain a lot. “Does your mother know?”</p><p>“Until this morning, to the best of my knowledge,” Scully stated emphatically, “only the Carters and I knew.”</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Mom, Mom are you home?” Scully called, knocking on her mother’s front door.</p><p>“Doesn’t look like it, Mrs Spooky,” Mulder smirked, for which his reward came in the form of blue eyes rolling in the sockets of his wife.</p><p>He couldn’t help himself. All weekend, Mulder had taken every opportunity to tease and torment Scully about her foolish dare. He knew the reason. <em>I’m happy</em>, he realised, <em>this couldn’t have happened at a better time, just when I wondered what to do about the attraction between us, the attraction that’s been simmering just under the surface for the last four years. Still doesn’t mean I’m going to let Scully off the hook any time soon.</em></p><p>Pulling out her key, Scully prepared to insert it into the lock. Mulder, hearing footsteps approaching the door, took his hand from the middle of her back. Placing his fingers around her wrist, he effectively stopped Scully opening the door.</p><p>“Dana, Mulder,” a shocked man greeted them. No more shocked than Dana hearing the two words falling together from the mouth of a family member for the first time.</p><p>Scully looked up and thought, <em>Crap, he knows</em>, as her big brother’s astonishment covered his face. Eyes dilating with shock, she muttered in a strangled tone, “what are you doing here, Bill?”</p><p>Bill glanced at her hand still holding out her mother’s front door key. Both Mulder and Scully knew the instant he noticed the flash of gold. “Why are you wearing a wedding ring, Dana,” he asked, stunned.</p><p>“Because your sister’s married to me,” Mulder answered in a teasing tone. Taking his fingers from her wrist, he removed the keys from her motionless hands and pocketed them. Making fun of Bill, Mulder slid the very tips of his digits down Scully’s arm until it reached her hand. Clasping it, he entwined their fingers, brought it to his lips for a brief kiss.</p><p>“You’ll find a matching one on Mulder’s finger,” Scully informed her disbelieving brother, arching an eye to complete her look. She warned the boys to play nice. Given the animosity between them, Scully knew that to be almost impossible. Attempting to pull away from Mulder hold, he returned her smirk with one of his own but kept a firm hold of her. Sending him a <em>I know what you’re doing, now stop it,</em> stare, he only smiled in response telling his wife he wouldn’t let go that easily. As usual, Mulder would do exactly what he wanted too, with or without her expressed permission.</p><p>“You married <strong><em>him</em></strong>?” The incredulity in Bill’s voice added to his eyes tracking the silent communication between them.</p><p>“That’s usually what wedding rings signify,” Mulder answered but had yet to release Scully’s trapped gaze. He sent Bill an unspoken challenge which only made Scully’s brother bristle in anger.</p><p>Sighing, Scully knew she’d be the only one she could count on to act like an adult given these two childlike men surrounding her. “Bill,” she broke away from Mulder’s intense gaze to explain, “I married Mulder almost ten years ago.”</p><p>“I know it must feel like a life time, Dana,” he swallowed hard, unable to believe the words his sister said, “but really.”</p><p>“Really,” Mulder chimed in with a wicked chuckle, “we got married in your sister’s first year of medical school, ten years ago today.”</p><p>“Is…is this true, Dana,” Bill continued to swallow convulsively, unable to believe his ears, “is this guy really my brother-in-law.”</p><p>“Bill,” Mrs Scully called from the stairs, “who’s here.”</p><p>“Come on Mrs Spooky,” Mulder all but dragged this wife past Bill and into the house. “Hello, Mrs Scully.”</p><p>“Fox, Dana, I didn’t expect you,” Maggies face lit up.</p><p>“Mom, did you know they’re married,” Bill finally found his voice.</p><p>“Yes, dear,” Maggie answered calmly, making her way into the kitchen. “Didn’t you know they’ve been married for years? Although I’m glad you finally found the courage to tell Fox, Dana. I hope you both have time to join me for dinner. Bill’s only here in Washington tonight and it’d be nice to have as much of the family together as possible for the evening.”</p><p>“Sure, Mrs Scully, we’d love too,” Mulder answered before Dana found her voice. Turning her cerulean glare on him, he only shrugged his shoulders as if to say, <em>we need to get this over with and now is the perfect time.</em></p><p>“Call me Mom, Fox,” Maggie offered. “Maybe you could come and help me in the kitchen. I think Dana and Bill have a lot they need to talk about and you and I would only be in the way.”</p><p>“Play nice,” Mulder whispered in Scully’s ear as he followed his mother-in-law deeper into the house.</p><p><em>Crap</em>, Dana and Bill thought at the same moment, for very different reasons.</p><p>“How does mom know about this, dammit,” Bill accused, “did you tell her and not the rest of the family.”</p><p>“Until Friday morning, Mulder didn’t even know,” Scully retorted without considering her words first.</p><p>“Ha, ha,” Bill mocked, “you’re telling me <strong><em>he</em></strong> didn’t know.”</p><p>“Let’s sit down, Bill, and I’ll tell you a story about a trip to Martha’s vineyard on spring break and a drunken dare,” Scully sighed, deciding to be completely honest with her family.</p><p>“Mom knew about this,” he repeatedly asked several minutes later, still astounded.</p><p>“I don’t know how. I never told a sole until two days ago,” Scully looked as dumbfounded as her brother. “To the best of my knowledge, only Chris Carter and his father knew anything about this.”</p><p>Meanwhile in the kitchen:</p><p>“So, Mom,” Mulder used is very best cynical tone, testing the timber of the word, “how did you know about your daughter’s youthful indiscretion?”</p><p>“When Dana moved from College to take up her residence programme, I helped her relocate. Bill and I wanted our little girl to be closer to us, so we convinced Dana to accept a hospital near the family home,” Margaret Scully lifted an eyebrow in much the same manner as her daughter. “I found the letter she wrote you in Oxford, but you never opened.”</p><p>“When,” Mulder asked, astounded that Scully had attempted to contact him after what had happened.</p><p>“By the post mark,” Maggie hesitated, letting her words sink in, “I’d say around your 25th birthday.”</p><p>Pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger of his left hand, Mulder tried to stop the memory of his final argument with Phoebe Green. That letter had caused a heated row, leading to their final, explosive break up. Phoebe had accused him of cheating, wanting to read the letter from his secret American lover. Mulder’s answer, to return the letter without opening it even though he had the distinct feeling it might change his life. Later that same day, he’d caught Phoebe in her own little indiscretion and learnt it had not been the first or the most compromising. The event forced his hand, accepting the FBI’s offer and returning to the US.</p><p>“I’m not sure I would have been ready for the contents of that letter,” Mulder mused, allowing a slightly embarrassed smirk to cover his lips and enter his hazel eyes. “I had a lot going on at that point in my life.”</p><p>“And now?” Maggie asked, her expression determined to get the answers she wanted, “are you ready now?”</p><p>“More than ready, Mom,” the embarrassment faded to be replaced with genuine pleasure. “I promise I’ll make this up to her.”</p><p>“Well, you can start by giving Dana the opportunity of a real wedding, or blessing at least,” Margaret resolved to keep this man as her son-in-law.</p><p>Something changed in Fox Mulder’s expression. Maybe he considered everything his partner and how wife gave up for him. “We’ll talk about it. I’m sure Scully will let you know what we decide and how you can help.”</p><p>“Music to my ears, Fox,” Maggie replied happily. “Let me give you a little bit of advice. Keep your wife happy, but keep your mother-in-law on side. Believe me, it’ll make a difference to your relationship.”</p><p>“Thanks, Mom, I’ll remember that,” Mulder attempted to keep his smile planted firmly on his lips. The shudder vibrating down his spine warned him never to tell Scully about her mother’s comments. <em>Discretion is sometimes the better part of valour, especially if I want to keep all my manly bits intact.</em></p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Agent Mulder,” Skinner appeared in the entry to his inner office, “I’ll get you to stay out here for a moment.”</p><p>“Which one?” Fox Mulder attempted to lighten the situation with humour. It didn’t work on his direct supervisor, who maintained the same expressionless mask.</p><p>“Dana, please come in,” The Assistant Director ordered in a slightly peeved before adding, “Kimberly, if you wouldn’t mind.”</p><p>Rising from her seat, Scully glanced at Mulder. The simple look communicated so much. Dragging her eyes away, Scully followed Skinner into his office. Taking the seat he offered on the opposite side of his desk, she sat calmly and crossed her legs. To avoid fidgeting, Scully placed her hands in her lap. A slight expression of interest on her face, she sat motionless, waiting for him to start.</p><p>Kimberly entered the office behind them. Taking up her station at a small desk some distance away, informing Scully this interview had become official. That calmed her. Mulder sat up all night, reading her diaries. There had never been a question of where or why he’d spend the night. They’d had the hour-long commute from Annapolis to D.C. to discuss their future. So far, the plans could only be described as rudimentary at best.</p><p>“Agent Scully, it has come to the attention of the Bureau that you are, in fact, currently married to Agent Fox Mulder. That this marriage took place ten years ago in the state of Rhode Island,” Skinner stated.</p><p>“That is correct, Sir,” Scully answered for the record.</p><p>“While your initial application lists your marital status as separated, no official documents were submitted, is this correct,” Skinner asked.</p><p>“No, Sir,” Scully returned.</p><p>“Could you please explain your comment?”</p><p>Choosing her words carefully, Scully took her time to answer, “Marriage in Rhode Island does not require blood tests or waiting period between obtaining a licence and the act of matrimony. My marriage to Fox Mulder occurred as the result of a drunken college dare. Until Friday morning, Agent Mulder had no knowledge that it took place ten years ago.”</p><p>“After contacting the relevant authorities, I commenced proceedings to have the marriage disbanded. This application required the legal consent from Fox Mulder before a dilution could be granted. All attempts at contact failed. On recruitment to the FBI, I had not communicated with my legal husband since the night of our impetuous marriage almost five years before. I believe this fulfils the definition of legal separation.”</p><p>“Indeed,” Skinner muttered before continuing, “yet, you accepted assignment to the X Files, with Agent Fox Mulder as your direct supervisor in the knowledge of Bureau protocol and procedures expressly forbidding married couples working in the same division.”</p><p>“I believe Section Chief Belvins did not allow any choice in my assignment to the X Files. When asked if I knew of Agent Mulder or his work I answered in the affirmative. The identity of my legally separated spouse is contained in my official personal file, along with the relevant documents, although suppressed at my request unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, S.C. Belvins had access to this information before requesting my participation to debunk the work of my husband.”</p><p>This obviously came as a surprise to Skinner as one eyebrow rose in bewilderment.</p><p>“If I might add, sir,” Scully continued, “if the Section Chief, under express command of the Director of the FBI allowed a two-person division to be staffed by married couple, why has the matter taken four years to address.”</p><p>“You have proof the Director signed off on this, Agent Scully?”</p><p>“If I may call attention to the official communication of reassignment in March 1992, the authority and signature on the letter belong to the Current Director of the FBI.”</p><p>“Interview ceased,” Skinner barked, “Kimberly, that will be all for now. Could you please ask Agent Mulder to join us?”</p><p>“Do you have any idea of the can of worms you’ve just opened,” Skinner berated the two agents before him.</p><p>“Oh, come on,” Mulder exploded verbally and out of his chair, “cut the sanctimonious B.S. and double talk. They used this against us, pitting Scully’s professional rationalism and logic against my unorthodox methods right from the start. Every one of the men in that room would have been aware of the legal relationship. Federal Judge Charles Christopher Carter presided over the marriage. Carter and Section Chief Belvins attend the same country club in Martha’s Vineyard. Their children attended the same prep school I did.”</p><p>“Do you realise what you saying, Agent Mulder,” Skinner demanded. He knew these people to be ruthless, to do or say anything to discredit the X Files and especially Fox Mulder. They wouldn’t hesitate to bring Dana Scully down if that’s what it took.</p><p>“I think Agent Scully and I discovered the truth last night,” he stated emphatically.</p><p>“You’re to take vacation until Thursday morning to get your private lives sorted out. If you want this to work in your favour, you need to update your personal files on the way out, including the same domicile. Then you’ll present yourselves to this office at eight am Thursday for you next assignment. Come prepared to travel,” Skinner stated, returning his attention to the open file on his desk in dismissal.</p><p>“Kimberly,” Scully spoke gently to the woman who always been exceedingly polite to them, “what is the latest gossip at the water cooler.”</p><p>Mulder almost choked, realising how his wife remained so well informed about the rumour mill.</p><p>“You name it, it’s being said. Everyone is demanding their money back. You two have certainly put the cat among the pidgins. Know what I’d do in your shoes?”</p><p>“Enlighten me,” Mulder couldn’t wait for this.</p><p>“Nothing,” she laughed easily, “absolutely nothing that you wouldn’t normally do, except wear your wedding bands. But, I see you’re already doing that. It creates an air of mystery. No one knows anything officially, and that’s the way it’ll stay, unless you want me to leak the truth.”</p><p>“Mulder?” the single word and raised eyebrow spoke volumes.</p><p>“Who’ll win the pool if the truth gets out,” Mulder asked Kimberly.</p><p>Taking a red note book out of her draw, she stated, “I believe your wife.”</p><p>“You bet on yourself, Scully?”</p><p>The look said everything it needed to. Expelling the air from his lungs, Mulder placed his hand in its usual place. Even with their new intimacy, Scully had laid down the ground rules for work and home. Her professionalism would not suffer because of the change or acknowledgement of her marriage to Mulder. As he guided her out of Skinner’s office, he heard Kimberley utter, “I’ll let everyone in the building know by morning tea.”</p><p>Scully simply smiled knowingly as she made her way to the elevator. Making a statement by reaching out with her left hand to press the down button, the flash of gold on her finger caught the overhead light. Several interested bystanders surrounding the water cooler blatantly glared. The lift arrived. Scully stepped in, followed by Mulder. The doors closed and they disappeared from sight.</p><p>“Having fun, Mrs Spooky,” Mulder quipped.</p><p>An enigmatic smile covered her lips, “you have no idea,” she replied.</p>
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